crete construction. But there is a real feeling of the people in the valley, the upper Potomac region, that unless some provision is made for the completion of this dam, hundreds of thousands of dollars that have already gone into its construction will be wasted.

Now, I am not sure that that will be true. That is simply the expression of those of us who live there.

The CHAIRMAN. I will ask General Robbins: Is this particular area included in the Potomac project now under consideration?

General ROBBINS. This particular dam is a W. P. A. job.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Randolph so stated. But I understood that that general area was included in the report that you have under consideration.

General ROBBINS. Yes, sir. The whole Potomac River Basin.

The CHAIRMAN. I may say, Mr. Randolph, that what you say with respect to this Savage River Dam is true with respect to many other dams and reservoirs in the country where not only regular W. P. A. funds but regular funds have been appropriated and expenditures of millions of dollars have been made. Because of priorities they have been stopped because of the progress of the war. As you know, practically all reservoir control works, for want of appropriations during the duration, have been stopped."

Mr. RANDOLPH. Yes.

During the recent spring flood which came into that territory I had occasion to contact the United States Office of Engineers, and those engineers still representing the W. P. A., that they might go in and make an investigation, because there was a real fear in the hearts of perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 people living directly below the dam a few miles that it was going to go out.

I think even the engineers will bear me out that there was a slight possibility of that, although it did not occur.

We have there an added thing, of course, and that is that the completion of the dam is necessary for flood-control purposes.

The CHAIRMAN. Your people remember Johnstown?

Mr. RANDOLPH. Yes, sir. They do. You know how the mountain country is there. It is sliced up into deep valleys and the people below naturally have this fear.

Now, I trust that provision for completion of this dam through some arrangement with local funds and Federal funds can be made at the earliest possible date.

Mr. Chairman, the area that I speak of, running from approximately 25 miles west of Cumberland, Md., through to and including Washington, D. C., is what we call the Potomac Basin. It is divided into the lower and the upper Potomac sections. And the reason that I mentioned Cumberland, Md., this morning is because Representative Beall, who has charge in Congress of the representation of that part of the State of Maryland, asked to be joined with me in. representations before the committee this morning.

You will understand that the Potomac River cuts our districts in two. On one side we have Maryland, and on the other side is West Virginia. Maryland is perhaps touched by flood damage to a greater extent at Cumberland than at any other point in the upper Potomac valley, and towns like Ridgely and Harpers Ferry, W. Va., being the communities most affected on my side of the river.

Just this one closing statement, Mr. Chairman, and I am through. I feel that this committee through the able leadership of its chairman and the effective cooperation of its members will bring before Congress the proper legislation with broad purposes of a post-war flood-control program. I think there are certain types of public works which can well be planned now, not later. And I believe that you are doing excellent work looking toward at least this one angle-a public-works program after the war.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have had your statement.

I would like to say in this connection that you have been most helpful in your previous statements to the committee and in your cooperation with the committee. As you suggest, I would like to add, you and Mr. Beall have not only conferred with the committee, but you have written letters. I have in mind your letter of March 22 of this year in respect to the flood situation along the Potomac. You also presented helpful statements in connection with the three floods that occurred in the vicinity of Washington and Cumberland during October of 1942.

Mr. ELLIOTT. I would like to ask the gentleman from West Virginia a question.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Mr. ELLIOTT. You speak of the post-war program. Do you not feel, Mr. Randolph, that if we are going to produce more foodstuffs, we should have some legislation on the work now in operation to protect the farm lands where food is being destroyed, making possible more food which can be produced by reservoirs and protection for the farm lands and further irrigation projects?

Mr. RANDOLPH. The impact of this war from the standpoint of the production of foodstuffs, not only for ourselves, but for the other nations of the world, is certainly going to place a heavy burden on us in the years just ahead; and I think that this committee, planning carefully and with the aid of Government officials, can do much to see to it that our lands are in proper shape for cultivation and the production of food.

Mr. ELLIOTT. We cannot wait until the war is over.

Mr. RANDOLPH. No. We cannot. If we have a period of waiting until the war is actually over before we start planning, I think the country will face a certain degree of collapse and chaos. I believe that very firmly.

Mr. Chairman, I would ask that the letter addressed by Representative Beall and myself to you as chairman of this committee, dated in March, that you mentioned, be made a part of my presentation to the committee.

The CHAIRMAN. The letter that you refer to will be included in your

statement.

(The letter referred to is as follows:)

Hon. WILLIAM M. WHITTINGTON,

MARCH 22, 1943.

Chairman, Flood Control Committee, House of Representatives.

DEAR CHAIRMAN WHITTINGTON: We are interested in the already authorized, and further proposed flood-control plans, for the Potomac River Basin. The communities affected in our districts are as follows:

We desire to call attention to the fact that any plans of a post-war nature will vitally affect this entire territory, reaching from the upper Potomac watershed to the National Capital. We would point out, especially at this time, that the Allegany ordnance plant, located between Cumberland and Keyser, and operating on both sides of the river, is in this area. Millions of dollars are invested in industrial properties in this region.

We have held conferences with the United States Army engineers, and are informed that a survey is in progress for flood control and allied water uses on the Potomac. The result of this study may bring about a modification of earlier designated projects under Public Act No. 738 of the Seventy-fourth Congress. We are further told that certain projects in or near the District of Columbia, and at Cumberland and Ridgeley, at Moorefield and Harpers Ferry, have not been placed under construction, due largely to the inability of those communities to assume certain costs, etc. The amended act will make it possible for these local communities to avail themselves of Federal funds for necessary rights-of-way. The citizens and municipalities in these sections are most desirous of cooperating to the limit of their resources.

We will appreciate the opportunity of appearing at the proper time before your committee.

Sincerely yours,

JAMES GLENN BEALL, M. C.
JENNINGS RANDOLPH, M. C.

STATEMENT OF HON. J. LEROY JOHNSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. JOHNSON. I represent the Third California District.

Mr. CHAIRMAN. I have a very brief statement to make. The Third Congressional District of California, which I represent, straddles the lower reaches of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers and a number of tributaries thereof. Floods in this area are an annual menace and constitute a continued threat to the agricultural land and cities bordering on these streams.

Control of these floods is imperative if this area is to perform to its maximum in the important matter of food production. These lands are among the most highly cultivated and richest lands in the United States. I believe that every reasonable step should be taken at once to prevent future losses from floods in this area. The War Department through its Engineering Corps has prepared a practical program to stop these floods and the attendant crop losses. I want to urge you to adopt this plan and to recommend the commencement of this work at the earliest possible moment.

Local interests in my district have spent vast sums of money to reduce the constant flood menace that annually faces them. They now need Federal aid to completely control this danger. With our necessity to increase our food production during and immediately after the war, we believe the time has come for the Federal Government to act on this matter, and I earnestly hope that it will do so.

I am interested in the carrying out as promptly as possible of the flood-control plan on the San Joaquin River and its tributaries.

I want to say that the land that I am interested in in my district is all under intensive cultivation. Every acre is irrigated. Many of them produce for 9 months in the year. It really is one of the most highly developed and richest agricultural areas in the United States. Part of that area, in the delta on the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, is one of the few places in the world where plat land is culti vated; that can be said of only a few places. I might say, by way of illustration, that San Joaquin County, which is a small county, produces 6 percent of the tomatoes of the United States.

The CHAIRMAN. How about grapes and wine?

Mr. JOHNSON. We have lots of grapes and wine. Also carrots,

onions

Mr. ELLIOTT. You might include in your statement the different foodstuffs and crops that you produce in this particular area.

Mr. JOHNSON. I will be glad to do that. We have 20 major crops. One of those is wine. We have 40 wineries in my district.

The CHAIRMAN. Are those modern wineries old-fashioned wineries such as you might find up in the mountains?

Mr. JOHNSON. We have lots of old-fashioned wineries as well as large commercial wineries. They have been there for years. We have every kind of wine-white wine, red wine, sparkling, sweet, and dry wine. I just want to make one more comment.

When I urge you to carry out those flood-control plans, I want to emphasize to the chairman especially that the people out there have spent their own money trying to protect themselves against floods. The city of Stockton built a flood-control dam in 1926 and 1927 costing $1,600,000. Sacramento and other places have spent a lot of their own money to protect themselves. So it is not just an idea of getting Federal funds. We have shown our good faith in that way, by putting up

our own money.

The CHAIRMAN. At Sacramento particularly the Government has spent a lot of money.

Mr. JOHNSON. At Sacramento the Federal Government has spent considerable sums. They have put in millions and millions. But the State bureau of reclamation spent a lot of money in helping that thing along. They have often come back here and gotten money from you. After all, that river is a navigable stream, and I think that the Federal Government has a distinct obligation there to help the situation along.

The CHAIRMAN. I agree with you. But the Federal help has been increasing since 1926 through, 1936 along that river. And, talking about Sacramento, the Government has probably helped there more

than on any other river. I think, rightly so, for the reason that you mentioned, among others. But along them, and particularly along the San Joaquin River, generally your people have put up the funds for their own local protection.

Mr. JOHNSON. We built all the levees.

The CHAIRMAN. Your levees west of Stockton on the San Joaquin are about how high?.

Mr. JOHNSON. Frankly, I don't know how high they are.

I would like to say that the levees that we have been building are approximately 20 feet above the ground level. The average flood loss in that area has been a million and a half dollars a year.

The CHAIRMAN. What are your other principal products? You have named your tomatoes as being one of your best crops, and wines. Mr. JOHNSON. I will give you a list of all the things that we raise there, right now. These are all the things that we raise in commercial quantities and send away.

The CHAIRMAN. We only want those that you raise in commercial quantities.

Mr. JOHNSON. Peas, beans, lima beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, beets, asparagus, celery, potatoes, barley, in rather small quantity, peaches, apricots, prunes, plums, cherries, pears melons, milk, alfalfa, sugar beets-there are five sugar refineries in our district. We feed a lot of sheep there in the wintertime. Walnuts. We have the best walnut groves in the whole State of California.

The CHAIRMAN. Better than they have up above San Francisco, in Mr. Lea's district?

Mr. JOHNSON. I think they are better. We have the Diamond brand walnuts, and these are the best on the market.

Almonds. We have a big Tokay area, where they raise Tokay grapes, Muscat grapes.

We have about 15 types of wine grapes of all kinds-whites, reds, black-every different kind.

We have quite a few chestnuts. That is a great food among the Italians. We have a big Italian population.

Mr. ELLIOTT. There are a lot of hogs in that area?

Mr. JOHNSON. Yes. I was a little modest.

Mr. ELLIOTT. It is important that we do get flood-control protection on all of those streams in the upper San Joaquin Valley and the lower San Joaquin Valley as fast as possible if we hope to produce more foodstuffs that that valley is capable of producing?

Mr. JOHNSON. Yes, sir. It is very important to have that now, because every flood just damages a lot of food that could be used. For instance, if one of those islands in the delta were flooded-and it happened several times in the last 10 years-it might knock out enough food for 100,000 people. I mean that, seriously.

The CHAIRMAN. It is a marvelous valley. Your constituents deserve great credit for their local expenditures.

Mr. JOHNSON. I want to emphasize that we think the Army engineers have the solution of the whole thing. It has all been prepared and studied and it is ready to be put in as soon as possible.